President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon met with the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, who arrived last night in Dushanbe to attend a meeting of heads of member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
The meeting discussed issues related to the strengthening and expansion of multi-faceted cooperation between the two strategic partnerships.
At the beginning of the meeting Head of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon expressed his gratitude to Russia and especially to Vladimir Putin for supporting security in Tajikistan in early September and for sending humanitarian aid to people affected by the disaster in Tajikistan.
Vladimir Putin once again confirmed Russia's readiness to support the measures taken by the Government of Tajikistan to protect the security and stability in the country and said that the relations between Russia and Tajikistan are based on the alliance and the equality of the two sides. The satisfaction was expressed with constant and effective interaction of the foreign affairs bodies, security and law enforcement agencies of the two countries.
During constructive discussions it was emphasized that Russia remains the first investment partner of Tajikistan, as the volume of direct investment from the country in Tajikistan makes up 1.2 billion US dollars. This figure is almost equal to half of all direct foreign investments in Tajikistan.
In 2014 the volume of trade between Tajikistan and Russia grew by 38% in comparison with 2013.
However, there was a reduction of agricultural exports from Tajikistan to Russia.
Head of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon expressed concern about the process to rectify this situation, proposed the creation in the territory of Tajikistan of joint enterprises on processing agricultural products exported to Russia. In addition, it was noted the need to establish service centers, the introduction of new technologies and agricultural techniques, including in the free economic zones in Tajikistan.
It was also emphasized that these large unrealized opportunities should be widely used for the development of cooperation in the fields of mining and mineral processing, transport, energy, and the expansion of direct ties between regions of the two countries.
Special attention was paid to the simplification of the conditions of stay of Tajik labor migrants in the Russian Federation.
Concern was expressed about the fact that more than 300 thousand Tajik citizens for committing minor administrative violations are denied the right to enter the territory of Russia.
In addition, at the meeting was raised the issue of extending to 90 days of the period of registration of Tajik citizens from the moment they enter the territory of Russia.
The sides also had a constructive discussion on the current situation in the region and the world, as well as the defense and military-technical cooperation between Tajikistan and Russia.